Our Story

Our Story

I was only in high school when I met my husband.  Unfortunately I didn’t know this at the time. I even made quite the impression on him. He went to youth group with one of my friends and when she introduced us I turned around said hi and that was it. He thought I was stuck up and actually thought “with my luck I’ll end up marrying her”.  I saw him a few times after that, but he eventually he stopped hanging out with my group of friends.

It wasn’t until about two years later that was saw each other again. We both ended up going to a Reliant K concert the night before Thanksgiving. Neither of us was supposed to go to this concert, but I am so glad we did! We hung out the whole night and even ran into each other of Applebee’s afterwards.  We talked online for a few months and eventually hung out in person. We didn’t admit that we were dating until June and a little over two years later we were married. 

We were only married one month when I went off birth control. I didn’t like the way it made me feel, and we both agreed that it was best if I stopped taking it.  We didn’t really want to get pregnant at first. Neither of us had good jobs and money was definitely an issue. However, we weren’t naïve, so we assumed we would eventually end up pregnant. It wasn’t until about six months after going off the pill that I realized that there might be a problem.

It was about a year or two later that we finally pursued a reason for not getting pregnant in the first couple years of being married. I started complaining about pain on my right side on Wednesday and Jason told me I should go to the emergency room. I disagreed and refused to go. Then that Saturday the pain was so unreal that I finally agreed to go to the emergency room. Now, I can’t leave out that this was Jason’s birthday that we spent in the ER. I am pretty sure I will never live that down.  After a long visit with the ER we found out that I had a kidney stone and an ovarian cyst on the right side.

At my ER follow-up with my doctor is when we finally discussed the infertility issues we were having.  By this point the cyst was gone and the pain wasn’t as bad. We decided to go on Clomid. We did four months of Clomid. In the four months I was cranky and gained 20 pounds.

                Then I had my yearly with my gynecologist. During the pelvic exam he felt a cyst and brought me back in a few days later for an ultrasound. By this time the cyst was gone. I was so frustrated because I was still in so much pain. I couldn’t understand how I could still be in pain, but what supposedly caused the pain wasn’t there anymore.  This was the first mention of endometriosis. We decided at that visit not to do a laparoscopy because I was so young.  I very much regret that decision.

                Over the next year the pain continued to get worse and more constant. I eventually followed up with my primary care doctor and he recommended having the laparoscopy to prove that I had endometriosis and possibly treat it. I made my decision known at my next appointment with my gynecologist and after some discussion he agreed. My first surgery was about February of 2007.  They found endometriosis on my bladder, uterus and right ovary. However, because it was on my bladder the doctor didn’t remove any of it. Instead he put me on constant birth control for four months and the pain only got worse.

                He referred me to a specialist. The specialist wanted to lessen the endometriosis before operating because of the bladder being such a sensitive organ to operate on. He put me on Lupron which is a medication that I will never again do. I had to go to my doctor once a month to get an injection that puts you into menopause. So, for five months I went through mood swings, hot flashes and migraines with no relief.  Then, in October of 2007 my specialist operated and removed all of the endometriosis.

                Shortly after surgery we started all of the fertility testing. Still, the only known medical problems were the endometriosis and I have a tipped uterus. That tipped uterus makes all of the testing and treatments oh so much fun.  Other than those problems, we are the picture of health.

                From there we did four rounds of IUI. Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a treatment that uses a catheter to place a number of washed sperm directly into the uterus. The week before the first IUI failed my Great Aunt passed away and the week we found out it failed my Great Uncle passed away. So, when the nurse asked me how I was doing when the second IUI failed, I just kind of laughed and said “better this time, no one died.” After my fourth IUI attempt failed I started back to school for Medical Assisting.

                We decided to give IVF a shot. I had nine embryos and we decided to transfer two. Unfortunately, none of the remaining seven were a good enough quality to freeze. IVF is such a crazy procedure.  It is a true roller coaster. I had to give myself injections twice a day. I saw my specialist and had ultrasounds about every other day for two weeks. Then the injections upped to three times a day. After the transfer my husband had to give me progesterone injections every day. During all of this I found out I was allergic to Zpack and we sprung a huge leak in our roof.  So, if the stresses of injections, medications and doctor appointments wasn’t enough we had to add in house issues!

                I was so sure that IVF would work for us. There wasn’t even a little part of me that thought I would be the 50% that it wouldn’t work for. In the two week wait after transfer I was devastated when I found out that none of the embryos could be frozen, but that was nothing compared to the devastation I felt when they told me my hormone levels weren’t high enough to be pregnant. To add insult to injury, I had to have blood redrawn on a Saturday morning to make sure my hormone levels were going down and not up.

                The IVF failure really sent us into a downward spiral and it has taken us a long time to recover. This is why I feel it is so important to share my story and some of what I have learned over the past few years. I wasted too much time letting infertility consume my life. I let it become who I was. I want to be able to help others as much as possible not to go down the emotional path that I did.  Yes, infertility sucks and it is emotional, but I want everyone that is going through it to know that they are not alone and that you will get through it!

                Since the IVF failure I have had to have one more surgery to remove more endometriosis. I have also opted to take birth control to help with the pain caused by endometriosis. I have graduated from college with an associate’s degree in Medical Assisting. My husband and I have moved to North Carolina, which was a very difficult move for us to make, but I feel was the move God intended for us. I now work as a Medical Assistant in an OB/GYN office. I see pregnant women all day long. I face all day what tortures most women going through infertility. I am here to tell you that I am okay. I will admit that there are days that are harder than others, but I love my job and truly enjoy working with pregnant women.

                Keep you head up, stay strong. You will get through this. It is not an easy journey, but as I have said in my blog, we have help. 1 Peter 5:7 says to cast your cares on God because he cares for you. Let me tell you, that is the greatest thing you can do is to give it to God.